about
My name is Patrick Onofre and I am a light and shadow warrior.
I graduated from Johnson & Wales with an Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts and a Bachelor’s degree in Food Service Management. I’ve been around food ever since I could start working at 16. I love cooking food, but more importantly, making it pleasing to all of the senses. I’ve been a restaurant manager for over two years, after cooking in them for three years. I moved back home to Virginia about a year ago to settle down in Arlington after being in Rhode Island and lower New England for five years.
However, two years ago, I was at a crossroads.
You see, I’m what you might call an “artsy type”. I have a huge passion for the arts and creating things – music, literature, theater, painting, photography. And therein lies the problem: it’s hard to have a creative release when you’re working 50+ hours a week in a restaurant. I try to take pictures or write every day, but with the strain of the industry beating me down, I have to decide what to do. Do I want to continue in an industry that I’m good at? Or try my hand at getting a career in something I’m truly passionate about?
This website should be a clear indication of what my decision was, and this blog is geared to show you the ups and downs of trying to make it as a photographer.
I decided my feet have been dry for too long, and it’s time to get them a little wet. I love everything about photography, and even more so, food photography. I take pictures of daily things to remind me and all of us of the beauty in what we encounter in our lives that we might not notice otherwise. I take pictures because beauty is all around us, and it’s my way of “stopping and smelling the roses” (except I take pictures of them, too). And because I enjoy food so much, I want to take my passion for photography and my passion + knowledge of food to create stunning photographs that make you want to eat the picture you’re viewing.
I hope this site gives you the insight you need to avoid the pitfalls I’ve taken, or share in the joy of my successes!
- Patrick
